1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to cover assemblies for vehicular wheels and hubs. More specifically, the invention relates to a locking system for securing a cover assembly to a vehicular wheel, hub and/or lug nut.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wheel and hub covers (hereinafter "wheel cover"), are used to decorate vehicular wheels. Many attempts have been made to conveniently and effectively secure the wheel cover to the wheel. One such attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,635, issued to Brown, et al. This reference discloses a wheel cover which covers a portion of the wheel, the lug nuts and all access thereto. Axial fingers resiliently grip at least one lug nut to secure the wheel cover to the wheel. This system requires forcing the axial fingers back over the lug nut when removing the wheel cover so that the lug nuts may be accessed. This is a disadvantage because repeatedly accessing the lug nuts will reduce the resiliency of the axial fingers resulting in a loose wheel cover which vibrates and may be lost if the vibrations are of such a large magnitude to force the axial fingers back over the lug nuts. This will result in a greater frequency of wheel covers which may be lost or damaged due to the reduced resiliency of the axial fingers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,845, issued to Dubost, discloses a wheel cover with lug covers which move with respect to the wheel cover to secure the wheel cover to the wheel about the lug nuts. Although securing this wheel cover depends less on the resilient nature of the attaching portions, or axial fingers, the whole wheel cover must be removed to obtain access to the lug nuts. The removal of the complete wheel cover is undesirable.